What We've Been Up To

Been a little while, huh?

Well, that's not for a lack of material to write about, just a lack of time.
A lot of medical news, actually.
I had a serious muscle in my back about 2 weeks ago that laid me up for a few days. I was thankful it wasn't something more serious, though the pain was pretty severe. I was told I was getting 2 Rx to help. A muscle relaxer, and a pain reliever. Chris returned home from the pharmacy with only a muscle relaxer. He handed them all the papers, yet somehow I didn't get half of my medication. That wasn't great. I was in pain for awhile, and the muscle relaxers did very little, that I noticed anyway. I was told I would feel pretty drowsy and sleepy when I took them...I did not. I honestly couldn't tell you when the medication was in my system and when they weren't. I'm not saying they didn't help, I can't say that for sure, but my high tolerance for medication is beginning to be a hindrance.
My worst fear was a herniated disc; my dad had one and needed surgery when he was in his 40's. Unlikely, I know, but my family has an inherited skeletal disorder (the name escapes right now) that does cause issues in your joints and such. My uncle had 2 knee surgeries before he graduated college due to this.
So, the point is, I am ok and doing fine now.

The other medical issue was Phoebe's eyes again. The day before I wrench my back, her eye was flaring up again. Despite all the medication I have been administering, all the watching over her, she had yet another ulcer forming. Chris took her in for me, and the Dr. gave us a referral to a animal optometrist. Did you know that existed? I didn't. They were booked for a while, but I was put on the top of their cancellation list. Lucky for us, some canceled yesterday morning, and Phoebe got in.
Instead of chronic dry-eye, the optometrist used his fancy gadgets to determine Phoebe actually has immune keratitis in both eyes, a genetic disorder. He basically explained it as "her body attack its own corneas much like rheumatoid arthritis attacks joints." There is not cure, but is well-managed with a couple of drops in each eye, every day, for her life. Not exactly the diagnosis I was hoping for (I was hoping for a procedure that would fix it permanently), but we can manage some eye drops (and their expense).

Luckily, my girls, though cranky, are doing just fine. They are healthy and happy  well...they're healthy. I think Addy issue is teething combined with some separation anxiety. The separation being anything greater than 3 feet. She is still the messiest eater I've seen, needed a mini bath after most feedings. Apparently she feels that spitting out food into her hand and immediately wiping it in her hair is an important step to every meal. Other than that she is doing well. She sleeps through the night about 2 nights a week, wakes up once for a bottle about 3 nights a week, and the rest of the week she gets up about twice for multiple bottles. It's progress, but not like Lorelai who went from waking up for bottles to sleeping through the night and never waking up again.

Lorelai is making up for that now with zero naps. The kid never naps. Maybe once every 3 weeks she will, but as all you moms/dads out there know, that is just drop in the bucket compared to what she needs. The poor kid whines and pouts about half the day, the other half she spends refusing to eat, taking off her pants, and putting up a big fight on potty training. No bribes, rewards, punishments, reprimands, or self-prompting seem to work. Just like most things my LEL does, this will most likely be accomplished on her terms, in her own time.

On to the holiday season!

M.LEWIS